'Loving' mother left child home alone
The naked little boy was left in the filthy flat he shared with the 22-year-old who ran off because she could not cope.
District Judge Paul Farmer sentenced her to an 18-month conditional discharge.
He told her: "You are not a wicked person. You got into a position where you could not cope. You became totally overwhelmed by the responsibilities you had taken on."
The judge said, often in cases like this people are concerned about what effect it has on the young child and the long-term consequences.
He said the mother and son had a "loving and caring relationship" and the child never "at any stage" suffered from the actions she took.
Exeter Magistrates Court heard the flat was cluttered with clothes, had human waste and dirty nappies on the carpets, disposable razors without protected covers littered the floor, and there was no fresh food in the kitchen which stank of rotting, mouldy and congealed food.
Prosecutor Karen Ball told an earlier hearing: "This offence relates to leaving her two-year-old home alone."
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was only discovered when a postwoman went to the flats in East Devon. She heard a child crying on the intercom and a passing policeman went to investigate.
Ms Ball told the court the boy was upset, crying and distressed.
The policeman looked through the letter box and saw the naked child "talking and sobbing" on the intercom phone.
The officer asked the toddler if his mummy was in and he replied "mummy gone, mummy gone".
The policeman entered the flat and the child ran to a window stool overlooking a car park and said "mummy car gone".
The child was hungry and thirsty and told the officer "dinner and jink [drink]".
His mother, who cannot be named but has no previous convictions, admitted a charge of neglect after the incident which happened in June.
A TV was switched on loudly in the flat which the mother later admitted was "a mess".
A children's food bowl contained something the policeman could not recognise and when he went into the kitchen the smell made him "urge and gasp for breath".
The court heard there was human waste and rotting food in the kitchen.
Ms Ball said: "The child hunted around in the rubbish for food, he was looking for something to eat. There was no fresh food anywhere. The dairy food in the fridge was covered in mildew."
The mother returned to the flat two-and-half hours after the boy was found and immediately said: "I am sorry, I just cannot cope anymore."
She said in a police interview she had gone off in her car because things had got on top of her.
John Smith, defending, said: "It is an extremely tragic situation. You have a lady quite unprepared for motherhood."
He said the defendant never even admitted she was pregnant until she went into labour.
Mr Smith said the boy was "wilful and wanted his own way" adding: "She found it impossible to cope and just ran."
The child was seen by experts who said he was "well nourished, very sociable and happy and chatty".
He has been reunited with his mother and they are both now living with her parents.
